Oklahoma football: How does the OU defense get back on track?
Oklahoma football’s defense lost a little of its shine, giving up 48 points to Kansas State two weeks ago. How Alex Grinch get his group back on track this week against Iowa State?
Stay aggressive
Kansas State was able to expose some of the Sooners’ exotic slants and stunts with a few quick-hitting plays up the middle in Manhattan, but there’s no reason for Alex Grinch and company to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
First off, the Kansas State offensive style just so happens to be the best foil in the conference to what Oklahoma wants to do. From an experienced offensive line that is attuned to picking blitzes to a smash-mouth, straight-ahead run game, the Wildcats were able to exploit a weakness in Grinch’s scheme that most teams (including Iowa State) don’t have the ability to replicate.
The Sooners can’t return to the days of letting too much thinking slow down reaction times. Grinch has done a great job of getting his players into position to dictate the action through the first part of the year and the players and coaches have to continue to play in that manner if they want to continue the upward trajectory the group seemed to be on before two weeks ago.
Capitalize on opportunities
Kansas State played a fairly clean game against Oklahoma, but there were chances to not only get off the field but come away with some game-changing turnovers for the Sooners.
On a third-and-seven with just under five minutes to go in the game Tre Brown broke on a Skyler Thompson pass and looked like he had the inside track for an interception, but allowed the ball to bounce off his pads. If he makes that play the Sooners take over at the Wildcat 30-yard line with enough time to score and not have to rely on an onside kick on the other side.
There were several other opportunities that weren’t quite as dramatic but added up in the long run to cost Oklahoma in the end.
These aren’t new issues either. Going back to much better defensive performances against both West Virginia and Texas the Sooners still struggled to create turnovers. Their last came over a month ago.
Against an Iowa State group that has given the Sooners trouble on defense in the past it will be up to Oklahoma players to make sure opportunities don’t go to waste, especially against a quarterback like Brock Purdy. Purdy is hard to beat when he gets into a rhythm, but also susceptible to throwing interceptions when frustrated.
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It will be up to Oklahoma and the prime-time crowd in Norman to make sure Oklahoma stays in the right side of that paradigm.